Members of a village church near Wallingford are hoping to raise £150,000 to install a new toilet and severy.

St Mary’s Magdalene Church, in The Street, Crowmarsh Gifford, has been granted the faculty to proceed with plans for a new toilet and severy, a compartment in a vaulted ceiling, at the west end of the church.

Members of the church, which was built in the early 12th century, have been hoping for a toilet at the church since it started opening everyday during daylight hours.

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Writing about the plans online, they said: “This would serve the wider community as well as providing much needed facilities for hosting concerts, school services, weddings, christenings and funerals in addition to our Sunday worship.  

“Therefore, we are currently planning to convert the old choir vestry into a disabled toilet and hopefully also a servery for refreshments to make best use of the new plumbing.”

It was announced this month in the Crowmarsh Giffords newsletter that the church was granted faculty, the equivalent of planning permission, to proceed with the plans.

However, members will need to raise the funds before proceeding.

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Reverend Kevin Beer wrote: “We have been granted the faculty (the church equivalent of planning permission) to proceed with our plans for the toilet and servery at the west end of the church.

“We are now in full fundraising mode to raise the necessary funding for this project. The budget is £150,000 as there will be major changes to the drainage on the south side of the church to cure the damp problems and to replace the rotten flooring.

“All work below ground requires archaeological oversight in case anything of historical significance is unearthed, whilst other work seems to be made more expensive as the church is Grade 1 listed.

“We are actively seeking grants towards this work to add to the legacies already received from parishioners over a number of years.

“Please get in touch if you would like to make a donation, as local support really helps to attract the funding from charitable trusts.”

It is unknown how much has been raised towards the plans so far. However, members of the church recently raised £307.50 by taking part in the Ride to Stride charity event.

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Ride + Stride is the single largest source of income for many Historic Churches Trusts enabling them to make Grants to places of Christian worship. 

Participants take part in different cycling routes across the UK – including in Oxfordshire. Routes range in distance from 4.5 miles to 11 miles.

To donate, or for more information, visit the church website online.